Darkside: A Depleted Argon Dark Matter Search

Le résumé fourni par la source

The existence of dark matter is known from gravitational effects, but its nature remains a deep mystery. One possibility motivated by other considerations in elementary particle physics is that dark matter consists of undiscovered elementary particles. Axions and Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are two possibilities. Evidence for new particles that could constitute WIMP dark matter may come from upcoming experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN or from sensitive astronomical instruments that detect radiation produced by WIMP-WIMP annihilations in galaxy halos. The thermal motion of the WIMPS comprising the dark matter halo surrounding the galaxy and the earth should result in WIMP-nuclear collisions of sufficient energy to be observable by sensitive laboratory apparatus. The goal of this proposal is to develop and deploy a liquid argon detector that has high sensitivity for direct detection of WIMP collisions. Liquid argon is a promising medium for WIMP detection due to its efficient conversion of energy from WIMP induced nuclear recoils into both ionization and scintillation. In a Time Projection Chamber (TPC), scintillation and ionization can be independently detected and spatially resolved through large volumes of liquid. The relative size and time dependence of these signals permits discrimination of nuclear recoils from background events.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.